If I can find it there is also a sound theory that dark energy could be akin to the vacuum (or expanding empty space itself.) If the vacuum constantly had particles and entropy trying to reach diffuse equilibrium over a theoretically infinite empty space, while space itself is stretching, then the increasing acceleration of the expansion of the universe is explained.

I found the wiki for now but I'll do some more hunting. At a good Uni they'll give you a student ID that gives you access to thousands of peer reviewed research articles. I don't have that luxury anymore unfortunately.

I'm not saying I have a solid opinion on the matter at all, though I find it fascinating. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am okay overall with all sorts of different postulations about dark matter and dark energy so long as they can be backed up by either the field equations or a sound interpretation of QM. Math is theoretical evidence. Because math quantifies phenomena in the Universe, it is a reliable metric for truth. If your theory about dark matter or dark energy has reasonable math behind it, there's a chance I'll consider the idea. All good evidence is worth considering, and postulating incorrectly and being proven to be wrong is more valuable than making no postulation at all. This is simply because we don't know the first thing about dark matter or dark energy's substance, so we are left to observing how they effect things. We have created them as hypotheses, in order to explain phenomena which we are not yet smart enough to explain, that are still observanle.

In a sense, people invoke them around large scale physical phenomena like a religious person would invoke God. "I don't know, therefore dark matter. This moves like that and I don't know, therefore dark energy."

So actually, I guess I would prefer to think it is the vacuum itself rather than an invisible force, until a more thorough less nebulous explanation becomes apparent.

And I'm okay with being totally off base on this... as long as I learn something. I guess I'm okay with thinking that it's just empty space, because I know empty space exists and Occam's razor is fairly sharp.

Edit: also if I'm wrong or misunderstanding my readings hook a brother up with some knowledge. <3

~ The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you ~
-Neil Degrasse Tyson
~ 0 ~

(20-07-2017 07:38 PM)Fireball Wrote: Getting a little off topic, but was this for communications out over the water, or radar? I see you said radio, but just want to be sure. How high was the transmitter, was it on a tower? Of course, that only helps so far out. And ground bounce is a pain in the neck off any surface.

Satellite communications over water at high latitude. If I remember right the look angle was something between 2 and 3 degrees.

Telenor ran a fiber to Spitzbergen in 2004, but prior to that the Isfjord radio staion Satcom terminal was the primary communications link for the island.